Dangerous Dogs Amnesty - Warning

[lankeela]

Merseyside are introducing a 7 day 'dangerous dogs amnesty' where people who think they own a 'pit bull type' dog can hand it over to the police. Do not hand your dog over - IT WILL BE DESTROYED.

I have tried to post a link to a site called www.deednotbreed but it won't come out. I will try to get the details and post them here.

Thos who keep these types of dogs for the wrong reasons will not hand them over but innocent pet owners may be fooled into thinking they have to. Only a court can order your dog to be surrendered.

[lankeela]

http://www.deednotbreed.org.uk

[Illyria54]

Hate to say this and no doubt I will be shouted down for it, but Pit Bulls and Pit Bull types and crosses are illegal in the UK, therefore no-one should own one, they are on DEFRA's dangerous dogs list, why can't people abide by the rules? if they did they wouldn't find themselves having to hand over their dogs now, it isn't the dogs fault, rather the people who stupidly bought them!

[garner]

its the poor dogs i feel sorry for.

[lankeela]

I thoroughly agree, however, many people have Staff crosses that may be deemed to be 'pit bull types' and could be coerced into handing over totally non aggressive pets that have never shown any inclination to fight or attack anyone or anything.

There should be no pit bulls in this country, unless they are very ancient, neutered and only allowed out wearing a muzzle. However the proliferation of dogs being called 'Irish Staffs' and other crosses now often referred to as 'red nose dogs' or 'blue nose dogs' means that they are getting round the laws.

A friend of mine has a Staff crossed with a Golden Retriever, and a soppier mutt you would be hard pressed to find. But I would not want to own one if I lived in Merseyside!

[lankeela]

The point I have made though is that they DON'T have to hand them over. It is an amnesty, rather like those for knives or guns. It is to give people the chance to own up to having one and hand it over -even if it has never shown any aggression in its life and could easily be a cross between two other breeds, such as boxers or mastiffs.

And yes, it is the dogs I feel sorry for too - although those seized from the dog fighting rings are better off put down than kept in the conditions they were found in, shut in small pens and only let out to fight.

[Illyria54]

Lets face it the dangerous dogs act in this country was a non starter, it was a good idea in theory but was never policed properly, you have the unscrupulous breeders to thank for this situation, the people who breed for dog fighting, again this isn't policed very well, the drug dealers who want a 'hard' dog and just your every day idiots that want some kind of status symbol, did I read that the uncle of that poor little girl who got killed was in to drug dealing? which is my case in point!, of course I feel dreadfully sorry for the innocent dogs who will be pts and would be devastated if any of my dogs were one of them, how else do you get around this problem?

[jevans11]

its the owners and how they train and bring up the dog and not the breed that makes ANY dog dangerous

[wiggal]

around my area, the kinds of people who are seen with pitbull/pitbull x breeds only have that breed of dog for the way they look and the attention it will get.
We often see teenage boys walking around bragging about their dog for this & that reason.
Im a young dog owner myself, im 19 and have owned my own Samoyed for 2 years now, but i atleast put the thought into it when deciding which dog i wanted to own, i didnt just choice a dog that would make me look 'hard'
i feel sorry for the dogs and tbh, have no sympathy for the people that bought pitbulls knowing they were illegal. i just feel sorry for the dogs.

[Illyria54]

I totally agree that it is how you bring up a dog as to whether it will be aggressive, but it is also genetic, Pitt Bulls as far as I am aware were bred for fighting, but please do correct me if I am wrong, The Japanese Tosa is also bred for fighting and the 2 other breeds which I can't spell, they were all banned for that reason, so that in mind we should no longer have any of these breeds in the UK or cross breeds of this type as by law existing Pitt Bulls in this country should have been neutered, so by now they would have died out naturally in this country, therefore we would not be in the situation of possibly euthanasing innocent dogs, which incidently breaks my heart just thinking about it, and can only imagine the heartache the owners of these dogs will have to go through.

[MWB]

Pitbulls & the like are unpredictable no matter how they are brought up.
They must be fazed out as a breed.
I think this "amnesty" is a little extreme but I can see how the situation has gotten this far.

[lankeela]

You all seem to be missing my point. It is the innocent crossbreeds owned by genuine people that I am worried about - we had someone on here a few weeks ago with I think a lab/staff cross who was worried about their dog being seen as a 'pit bull type' and was thinking about going to the police to 'register' it as such.

My warning is for people with dogs that are in fact not pit bull types, but could be mistaken for them. Surely you can all remember the hoo ha when the dangerous dogs act was first brought in, and the police were seizing dogs of all types and the owners had trouble proving what they really were. Even the RSPCA and vets were claiming they were pit bulls, and many were destroyed needlessly.

As I said befoe, the morons who own pit bulls and pit bull crosses are very unlikely to hand them over if they have been bred and kept for dog fighting or for use as a threatening tool in drug dealing etc.

[Illyria54]

I completely understand what you are saying, but what is the alternatives? I don't know, I have owned and worked with dogs almost all my life and have always thought that there weren't many dog breeds I couldn't recognise, but the other day I was looking at a website which had pics of about 25 different breeds of dog, it was inviting you to choose the Pitt Bull Terrier, I was shocked that it took me 3 attempts!! if I can remember it I will post it up here later and see what happens. Blood tests aren't foolproof so how can you really tell if a dog is 'Pitt Bull type'?

[leelapops]

lankeela thanks for posting this. I am nowhere near Merseyside, but I am sure a lot of people will appreciate your forethought.

It must be such a worry that your beloved pet will be destroyed because it appears to be a putbull type. I saw a lovely Staffie in the paper (the story was unrelated to the recent incidents, although she had named the dog Asbo!) that looked a lot like a small pitbull.

What a worry for genuine and innocent dog owners.
Lisa x

[Illyria54]

Here you go, I hope you are all better than me in picking the right dog out!

http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/findpi t.html

[annavc]

Thanks for posting that link - I though I was pretty good at recognising breeds and that took me 6 goes to getit right! Just proves Lankella's point about how easy it is to confuse them.

[kaylamay]

We have a female Staffie(We live in the States) and a sillier and most gentle dog you will never meet. She is afraid of her own food bowl! She is the apple of my husbands eye and a delight to the rest of the family. Growing up we had a male and female pit bull(both fixed) and they were the sweetest dogs and were just so happy to just be around us and us them. They both died of old age. It is not the animals fault. Animals act and react from instinct and from the lessons beat in to them by cruel ******** who want to use them as status symbols and for financial gain which usually involves terrible heart breaking abuse. I lay in bed at night and think of the abused animals of the world in the hands of vile humans and it breaks my heart. When i see what humans are capable of towards each other i have very little hope for the precious animals in their grips.
I for one would never give up my animals for any reason! I dont care what i was threatened with or by whom i would take my dog and leave and go on the run if necessary. Why should the rest of the breed be held responsible for the evilness of some humans when these poor animals have no way of controlling them. I say the people caught abusing these animals, who then in turn attack, should be the ones to be destroyed. I for one would have no problems seeing an end to their cruelty and barbarism.

Mikala
(I love all animals)

[kaylamay]

Holy Cow! it took me 3 tries to pick the American Pit Bull Terrier! Wow, there are many other breeds that look similar.
I sense a lot of needless heartbreak ahead.
Those poor animals.
Mikala

[GypsyGSD]

I have worked dogs for a long time , and it took me4 goes to find the pit bull so I have to agree this is going to cause a lot of confusion to many people I dont think this is the answer to the problem

[Dee Sa]

Dogs are not kept at police stations anymore and I understand that they go to nearest kennels sometimes very bad ones [ do the police care ? no] who have an obligation to keep them for 7 days in case an owner shows up after that they belong to the kennel who can resell them or destroy at their whim.
My friend rescues Shar peis and is a wonder woman, she heard of this particular one in distress and the kennel owner in spite of knowing she was a rescue group insisted she paid over a �100 to take the dog off their hands, reluctantly she refused, saying she rescued for free and couldnt start being held to blackmail and the kennel owner laughed at her, saying if she changed her mind he wanted double.
some animal lover he turned out to be.
So think before you hand a stray to the police, make the effort and take to Battersea or similar.

[imsoright]

in the past i have owned a pit bull terrier (before the original ban came out) i now own staffies and english bull terriers. the temeprement on these dogs is absolutly spot on if they are from home bred dogs and not fighting stock, my children where brought up around them and even were taught and helped to walk by them. it is purly the way the owners bring them up. i took the test above and it took me 3 attempts and i have owned them. it is a crying shame how many good dogs will be destroyed? how many children will be heart broken over their family pet ? all because of idiots who call theirselves dog owners and couldnt even look after a fish.